SAN FRANCISCO – Ever wonder what a Cubs World Series championship would mean outside of Chicago? What it would mean for baseball?
Commissioner Rob Manfred has.
“Look, the greatest opportunity for us is to take our great local audiences and carry them throughout the postseason,” Manfred said before the Cubs faced Giants ace Madison Bumgarner in Game 3 of the National League Division Series Monday night.
“In order to do that you need a storyline,” Manfred said. “We had that in Kansas City a couple of years ago; they hadn’t won in a long time, and that was an exciting story, with a lot of excitement in Kansas City.
“The Cubs are a multiple of that. It’s a great storyline.”
Some say it’s the best story left in sports.
“It may be,” Manfred said. “Obviously, whoever wins, wins. But the Cubs are a great story.”
Of course, some say it’s as great a story as it is only as long as the drought continues and the Cubs’ pursuit of history remains must-watch programming. It’s been so long that baseball didn’t even have a commissioner the last time the Cubs won it all.
“Well, look, all streaks come to an end,” Manfred said, with a laugh. “It’s just a question of when.”
Try convincing certain long-time Cubs fans of that.
“We’ll see,” Manfred said.
